Expansion joint for railroad tracks

Abstract

The specification describes an improved railroad track expansion joint which is comprised of a pair of longitudinally aligned elongated joint members interconnected with one another by means of a dovetail joint formed along abutting faces which extend at an acute angle to the members. The other ends of the joint members are connected to conventional rails and any expansion and contraction of the rails will cause the members to slide relative one another along the abutting face.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
       1. A railroad track expansion joint comprising: first and second elongated joint members each having one end adapted to be secured to the end of a conventional railroad track, said joint members having mating abutting faces at their other ends, said faces extending at an acute angle with respect to the length of said members, one of said faces being formed with a tongue means extending along the length of said face and parallel thereto, the other of said faces being formed with a groove means extending along the length of said other face and parallel thereto and receiving said tongue means whereby expansion or contraction of said track will cause said tongue and groove means to slide relative to one another, plate means adapted to be positioned between said joint members and supporting ties and providing a surface upon which said members may slide, said plate means having a pair of elongated slots extending at an angle to the length of said plate equal to and at the same attitude of said acute angle, each said members having a lug adapted to extend into one of said slots and having a smaller length than that of said slot by an amount equal to a predetermined amount of permissible expansion or contraction. 
     
     
       2. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 1, said one face having two parallel and coextensive tongue means and said other face having two parallel and coextensive groove means for matingly receiving said tongue means. 
     
     
       3. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 1, each said face having a tongue means and a groove means. 
     
     
       4. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 1, said tongue means and groove means forming a dovetail connection. 
     
     
       5. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 1, said angle being between 3 and 20 degrees. 
     
     
       6. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 1, said angle being between 3 and 10 degrees. 
     
     
       7. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 1, said angle being 6 degrees. 
     
     
       8. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 1, said projection extending parallel to said abutting faces. 
     
     
       9. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 8, further including a retaining means removably secured to said projection for preventing separation of said members and plate. 
     
     
       10. A railroad track expansion joint as defined in claim 9, said retaining means comprising a head portion and a pair of resilient arms adapted to extend through a transverse hole in said lugs on the side of said plate remote from said members.